Contextualised worship amongst the Nanticoke-Lenape American Indians

• Published in: In die skriflig : tydskrif van die Gereformeerde Teologiese Vereniging Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Buys, P.J. (Flip), Norwood, John R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Afrikaans; Portuguese
• Published: Potchefstroom AOSIS 01.01.2017; African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS; AOSIS (Pty) Ltd; Reformed Theological Society
• Subjects: Adaptation of indigenous cultural forms and traditions; American Indian tribal communities; Christianity; Contextualization; Emic and etic perspectives; Generational Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome; Nanticoke-Lenape People; Native Americans; Native culture; Native religions; Religion; Religious aspects; Religious missions; Social aspects; Spirituality; Syncretism; Worship; United States; United States > US; Delaware Bay
• ISSN: 1018-6441; 2305-0853; 2305-0853
• DOI: 10.4102/ids.v51i1.2302

The Christian history of the Nanticoke-Lenape people who live in three American Indian tribal communities of ‘first contact’ around the Delaware Bay (USA), is over three centuries old and continues in the contemporary tribal community congregations. The modern era of tribal cultural reprisal and rise of Pan-Indian neo-traditionalism has heightened an awareness of, and cast a critical eye on the absence of contextualisation in the regular worship of the tribal community churches. This article is a study in ethno-doxology and seeks to determine the need for contextualised worship, to analyse the challenges of contextualisation, and provide guidance for an approach to contextualisation of worship amongst the Nanticoke-Lenape Christian congregations.